Counselor and inmate stabbed at private prison in Indiana

NEW CASTLE, Ind. (AP) — A female mental health counselor and a male inmate have been stabbed by another inmate during an attack at a private prison in eastern Indiana, authorities said.

The counselor was conducting a group session around 9:40 a.m. Friday with eight male inmates at the New Castle Correctional Facility when one of the inmates began stabbing her neck and throat area with a pointed metal object, state police said.

As other inmates tried to stop the attack, one was stabbed in the chest.

The wounds suffered by the counselor and the inmate were not considered life threatening, state police said.

The cause of the attack was not immediately known.

New Castle is about 48 miles (77 kilometers) east of Indianapolis.